Exploring minor clerics in early medieval Tuscany

The article examines minor clerics (clerici) in Carolingian texts. Comparing episcopal capitularies from Italy and Francia suggests that clerici played a more prominent role in Italian church life. An analysis of charters from the monastery of Monte Amiata reveals a high proportion of clerici. They appear as a rurally-based group, with varying levels of education, but of some local social standing, and were often mature men with children. The prevalence of such clerici may be related to the northern Italian structure of pievi, and the opportunities these provided for mixed patterns of father-son and uncle-nephew inheritance of church office. The blurring of the lay/clerical divide by such clerici may have particularly worried eleventh-century church reformers coming to Italy from other regions of Western Europe

A Composite Genome Approach to Identify Phylogenetically Informative Data from Next-Generation Sequencing

We have developed a novel method to rapidly obtain homologous genomic data for phylogenetics directly from next-generation sequencing reads without the use of a reference genome. This software, called SISRS, avoids the time consuming steps of de novo whole genome assembly, genome-genome alignment, and annotation. For simulations SISRS is able to identify large numbers of loci containing variable sites with phylogenetic signal. For genomic data from apes, SISRS identified thousands of variable sites, from which we produced an accurate phylogeny. Finally, we used SISRS to identify phylogenetic markers that we used to estimate the phylogeny of placental mammals. We recovered phylogenies from multiple datasets that were consistent with previous conflicting estimates of the relationships among mammals. SISRS is open source and freely available at https://github.com/rachelss/SISRS.Comment: 12 pages plus36 figures, 1 supplementary table, 3 supplementary figure

Improvement in Renal Function and Reduction in Serum Uric Acid with Intensive Statin Therapy in Older Patients: A Post Hoc Analysis of the SAGE Trial.

BackgroundImprovement in renal function and decreases in serum uric acid (SUA) have been reported following prolonged high-intensity statin (HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor) therapy. This post hoc analysis of the SAGE trial examined the effect of intensive versus less intensive statin therapy on renal function, safety, and laboratory parameters, including SUA, in elderly coronary artery disease (CAD) patients (65-85 years) with or without chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsPatients were randomized to atorvastatin 80 mg/day or pravastatin 40 mg/day and treated for 12 months. Patients were stratified using Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFRs) in CKD (eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) and non-CKD populations.ResultsOf the 893 patients randomized, 858 had complete renal data and 418 of 858 (49%) had CKD (99% Stage 3). Over 12 months, eGFR increased with atorvastatin and remained stable with pravastatin (+2.38 vs. +0.18 mL/min/1.73 m(2), respectively; p < 0.0001). MDRD eGFR improved significantly in both CKD treatment arms; however, the increased eGFR in patients without CKD was significantly greater with atorvastatin (+2.08 mL/min/1.73 m(2)) than with pravastatin (-1.04 mL/min/1.73 m(2)). Modest reductions in SUA were observed in both treatment arms, but a greater fall occurred with atorvastatin than with pravastatin (-0.52 vs. -0.09 mg/dL, p < 0.0001). Change in SUA correlated negatively with changes in eGFR and positively with changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Reports of myalgia were rare (3.6% CKD; 5.7% non-CKD), and there were no episodes of rhabdomyolysis. Elevated serum alanine and aspartate transaminase to >3 times the upper limit of normal occurred in 4.4% of atorvastatin- and 0.2% of pravastatin-treated patients.ConclusionIntensive management of dyslipidemia in older patients with stable coronary heart disease may have beneficial effects on renal function and SUA

Holy spirit, holy bodies?: Pentecostal spirituality, pneumatology and the politics of embodiment

Pentecostalism is often heralded as a movement which thwarts the platonic body-soul/spirit dualism, through its emphasis on embodied spirituality. Recent recognition of the ‘progressive’ pentecostal stream has been used to further prove that pentecostals have evolved from their perceived initial stance of ‘otherworldliness’. However, by looking at the history of classical pentecostalism and its contemporary ‘progressive’ expression in England, I argue in this thesis that pentecostalism has been characterised by a tension between a pneumatic dualism and a pneumatic integralism in relation to human embodiment. By pneumatic dualism, I propose that the Spirit is encountered by many pentecostals historically and in the present, as one who engages the human body in its physiological sense for the sake of healing and to deepen personal piety and religiosity. However, though the Spirit engages the body in this limited sense, she is not commonly identified with the problems of body politics in the church or the world whether in the matter of class, gender or racial injustice. In this thesis, I show that there has been a consistent minority within classical pentecostalism in the USA and the UK whose theological ethics have been informed by pneumatic integralism, within which the Holy Spirit’s presence is expected to liberate aspects of human embodiment beyond the narrowly ‘religious’, including in political terms. For this minority within pentecostalism, the Holy Spirit is recognised as one who attends to the oppressions which stems from the racialising, gendering and classing of human bodies, and who calls the church to respond. I argue that an integrated pneumatology in relation to the human person can be seen in Jesus’ resurrection by the Spirit. The retention of Jesus’ scars post-resurrection offers a basis for pentecostal ethics in which attentiveness to oppression and the practice of solidarity with the marginalised become markers of the Spirit-baptised

The Relationship Between Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter, Carotid Artery Pulsatility Index, and Blood Pressure in Healthy Adults

Monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) has become an important practice in patients with elevated ICP (e.g., traumatic brain injury) to improve patient outcome. However, little information exists surrounding chronic, but sub-clinical elevations in ICP, which may stem from classic cardiovascular risk factors, such as elevated blood pressure (BP). The current methods to assess ICP are invasive and costly; but optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and blood flow pulsatility (pulsatility index; PI) are promising non-invasive techniques, both of which have been reported to strongly correlate with invasive measures of ICP in pathology. However, the interactions of BP, ONSD and PI in otherwise healthy adults, remains undetermined. Accordingly, the purpose of this investigation was to determine the relationship between ONSD, PI and BP, and to highlight possible sex differences in a population of young healthy adults. Sixteen participants (6 females) underwent assessment of arterial BP, ONSD (left and right eyes) and PI (left common carotid artery) using ultrasound. There was a strong correlation between mean ONSD (left and right eye combined) and PI (R=0.735, p=0.001). There was no significant relationship between PI and BP (R=0.058, p=0.832) or ONSD and BP (R=0.272, p=0.309). Additionally, there was a significant difference between males and females for mean ONSD, whereby males demonstrated a larger diameter (males=0.4860.110 vs. females=0.3530.062cm; p=0.018), but there was no significant difference in PI between males and females (males=2.3630.613 vs. females=1.9500.196; p=0.136). Results of this study confirm the relationship between ONSD and PI in a healthy population. While ICP was not directly assessed in the current study, the strong associations between ONSD and PI suggest that their combined assessment may be employed as a tenable surrogate to non-invasively measure ICP when the invasive measure of ICP is unfeasible

A mitochondrial-focused genetic interaction map reveals a scaffold-like complex required for inner membrane organization in mitochondria.

To broadly explore mitochondrial structure and function as well as the communication of mitochondria with other cellular pathways, we constructed a quantitative, high-density genetic interaction map (the MITO-MAP) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The MITO-MAP provides a comprehensive view of mitochondrial function including insights into the activity of uncharacterized mitochondrial proteins and the functional connection between mitochondria and the ER. The MITO-MAP also reveals a large inner membrane-associated complex, which we term MitOS for mitochondrial organizing structure, comprised of Fcj1/Mitofilin, a conserved inner membrane protein, and five additional components. MitOS physically and functionally interacts with both outer and inner membrane components and localizes to extended structures that wrap around the inner membrane. We show that MitOS acts in concert with ATP synthase dimers to organize the inner membrane and promote normal mitochondrial morphology. We propose that MitOS acts as a conserved mitochondrial skeletal structure that differentiates regions of the inner membrane to establish the normal internal architecture of mitochondria

THE EFFECTS OF AN ERGONOMIC DEVICE ON SAGITTAL PLANE LOWER EXTREMITY MOTION DURING A FULL SQUAT IN ACL-REPAIRED AND NON-INJURED FEMALES

Each year, 250,000 Americans experience injuries affecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), with women four to six times more likely to incur an ACL injury than their male counterparts. Knee Savers® (KS) are an ergonomic aid purported to lessen the risk of such injuries linked to deep squats. While widely used, KS have not been tested to determine their effect upon lower extremity kinematics. Female participants (n=20) with a history of ACLrepair (n=10) or non-injury (n=10) completed a deep squat with and without KS, while being filmed with 2D videography using methods increasingly available in clinical environments. Results from the study indicate no significant differences were found in sagittal plane lower extremity kinematics when squatting with and without KS. KS did not appear to influence lower extremity joint positions during the bottom phase of a deep squat as purported